


A Reunion

by timeless_alice



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeless_alice/pseuds/timeless_alice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After spending a year stranded on Earth-1, Jay goes home to see the person he missed the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I wanted to get out. Headcanons related to story at the end.

It had been one whole year since Jay had last stood in front of his own home. It looked exactly as he remembered it, as if no time at all had passed since he was taken from this world. And yet he stood at the end of the walkway to the front door, wringing his hands as he shifted from foot to foot, a wave of fear rushing through him. He wondered if Joan was inside, wondered if it was worth it to approach at all.

He remained at the end of the pathway, now aimlessly reaching into his pockets though he knew he had long since lost his keys. Or perhaps he’d sold them, he couldn’t quite remember; the first six months of the past year had all blurred together and he did not enjoy dwelling on it to sort out memories. Even if he still had them, or retrieved the spare he knew was kept hidden in one of the flowerpots, he had a sinking suspicion that merely entering would be a major mistake. But the idea of knocking made his stomach churn – it had been so long, he had no idea how Joan would react. Had she moved on with her life, without him, and would she be angry at an aspect of her past returning? Were his belongings still even there, he thought, or had she packed them away? All traces of him gone, stricken from the house.

The very idea of her rejecting him made his hands shake and throat tighten, eyes burning with tears that never seemed to be in short supply. His longing for home had always been a dull, ever present aching in his chest, but he had missed her the most. There had been long nights where he had wanted nothing more than to simply be with her, but she was worlds away and he didn’t even have his wedding ring to hold.

Jay shook his head free of the thoughts, steadying his hands and his breathing. Lingering on the past and various “what if”s of the present would get him nowhere; he needed to make a move and get definitive answers. Before any hesitation could set back in and root him to the spot, he stepped forward. His face grew hot with each step, shame and embarrassment flaring up to counter the growing fear in his stomach. It was his _home_ , where he’d lived for years. This was something he'd spent hours imagining, and yet he felt the urge to throw up now the moment was at hand. He hated, right to the core, how much had changed in a single year.

He was shaking anew by the time he reached the front door. The moment of truth he supposed, holding himself as still as he could as he stepped onto the porch. Jay took a deep breath, lifted his hand, and rapped his knuckles on the simple wooden door. He shifted back towards the edge of the porch and clutched at the strap of the dufflebag slung over his shoulder, as he waited.

Time ticked by at its despicably slow pace, and Jay wondered for a brief moment if that was simply nerves or a remaining effect of losing his powers. The wait was excruciating, and once more it crossed his mind that it might be in his best interest to leave. She wasn’t home, she didn’t want to see him anyway. He was a ghost, he should just stay a ghost.

He was preparing to turn on his heel as the seconds turned to minutes when he finally heard someone approach from the other side of the door. The sound made Jay freeze, his shoulders tensing to an almost painful degree. Joan shouted “coming!” which made his breath catch in his throat and his knees go weak, as if they’d give at any moment. It was too late to back out, even if he still had his powers.

“Sorry I took so long,” she was saying as the doorknob turned. “How can I help…you…?” The door flung open and she trailed off, looking at him with wide blue eyes and a gaping mouth, before she clapped her hands over it. Her wedding ring glinted in the low light of the cloudy day.

Mustering up what little positive energy he had, he offered her a smile. He remained tense, waiting for anger to register with her, waiting for her to yell at him. For leaving, for making her think he was dead. But instead her eyes shined with tears, and there seemed to be a smile on her face, hidden under her palms.

“Jay…?” she asked, soft and desperate, like the mere utterance of his name would send him away again.

“I’m here, I’m home,” he said with a small nod. The admittance hit him square in the chest, as good as any blow received in a fight. He could feel the tears, hot and heavy, trailing down his face and he rose trembling fingers to brush them away.

She let out a small gasp of “oh, my God,” before rushing forward to throw her arms around him, to pull him close. She was warm, and familiar, and more real than anything had felt for so long. There was a long moment of hesitation, as Jay fought with his last lingering sense of worry that something would go wrong, before he wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his face against her neck, holding her tight to his chest.

Joan wasn’t going to turn him away. This wasn’t a dream.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he whispered, voice hitching in his throat as a soft sob tore from him. She stroked his hair gently, a reassurance of her presence. “I missed you.” He left unspoken just how bone deep the longing had been, he simply didn’t have the words. Everything was welling up and though he had hardly bottled anything away it felt like the cumulative weight of the last few months was crushing down on him.

“I missed you, too.” He thought that maybe she understood just how much it hurt. “It’s okay, you’re here now. I’m here,” she muttered, tracing circles against his back as he began to sob.

Being stranded, losing his powers, the struggle just to skate by in an unfamiliar world. The dwindling hope that he would ever return home, the fear that they didn’t even wanted him back. The horrible, horrible loneliness as the distance between him and the people he loved seemed to grow wider with each passing day. It all rushed through him with an agonizing clarity, too much to handle.

They stood that way for a long time, Joan offering silent comfort as Jay shook against her and wept. Eventually he stilled, and the tears reduced to a steady trickle, and he pulled away, just enough so she could cup his face.

“Sorry.” He sniffed and offered another small smile. She ran a soft thumb over his cheek to brush away his tears, and he leaned into her touch. He could feel how hot he was from the shame and embarrassment pulsing through him. “I didn’t mean—“

“It’s all right,” Joan told him. She leaned forward, tilting him towards her so she could kiss his forehead and the tip of his nose. Kiss his eyelids, then his lips. He drank in her affection, savoring it like a drowning man.

“Did you think…?” He left it unfinished, too many potentials. Did you think I was dead? Gone? Never going to come back?

“Not for a minute,” she told him. It was lie, he knew, but he did not have the energy to point it out, even to tease her. “I knew you’d come back, you always do.”

They fell into another silence, and Jay found he did not have it in him to say anything more. He was too exhausted, as if the fear had been the only thing keeping him standing and now that it was extinguished he wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed – _his_ bed – and sleep.

Joan trailed her hands down his neck until they were resting on his shoulders, then said, “C’mon, let’s get inside. I think it’s supposed to rain.”

He followed her into the house and for once, for the first time in what seemed like forever, everything felt like it would be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> So while watching season 2 I just started assuming a lot about Jay and what happened to him, even if they never really got touched on (as of now).
> 
> So this is running off the assumption that he had little to no money when he arrived and the first six months on Earth-1 were pretty hellish. It also runs on the assumption that Jay feels like he is no longer welcome on Earth-2.
> 
> Also, naturally, it runs on the idea that he's totally married to Joan in this universe.


End file.
